Miami Marlins

MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — The Miami Marlins went into Thursday’s afternoon tilt with the Los Angeles Dodgers knowing they were facing the likely Cy Young Award winner in Clayton Kershaw.

The Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher didn’t disappoint by giving up just five hits in eight innings as L.A. knocked off Miami, 6-0.

Kershaw’s near flawless performance helped lower his Major League Baseball best ERA to 1.72 for the season.

Kershaw (13-7) struck out six and walked three. Miami’s leadoff batter reached in five innings against the left-hander, but the Marlins hit into three double plays and went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

Former All-Star closer Brian Wilson made his first major-league appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery and pitched the ninth, allowing one hit while striking out two. It was his first game since April 2012.

Wilson completed the Dodgers’ 17th shutout, most in the majors. Miami was shut out for the 15th time.

The Dodgers (75-52) climbed 23 games above .500 for the first time since 2009. They went 5-2 and their two-city trip and have won 22 of their past 25 road games.

They improved to 28-5 since the All-Star break and begin a series at home Friday against AL East leader Boston.

The Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig hit a double that struck the center-field wall above the 418-foot sign, scored a run and had a sacrifice fly. But he finished only 2 for 15 in the series, dropping his average to .346.

Puig was hit by a pitch in the upper left arm in the ninth but stayed in the game. He became dehydrated during Wednesday’s game, limped at times and received intravenous fluids afterward.

Kershaw broke a scoreless tie when he hit a two-out single in the fourth to drive in the first of the Dodgers’ three runs in the inning. He’s tied for the major-league lead among pitchers with eight RBIs.

Henderson Alvarez (2-3) went five innings and allowed five runs, all of them scoring with two outs.

Puig barely missed a home run leading off the fourth inning, when his drive struck a foot below the edge of the wall for a double. With two out Alvarez pitched around Juan Uribe, walking him to load the bases, but the tactic backfired when Kershaw hit an RBI single. Carl Crawford followed with a two-run double for a 3-0 lead.

The Dodgers scored again in the fifth on back-to-back two-out doubles by Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis, followed by Skip Schumaker’s RBI single.